On Friday, August 26th, Brady and I loaded up the kids and headed for LaVerne, CA. We were spending the night at my friend's in order to leave the kids with her so we could run The Marathon Show Marathon.
This is a unique Marathon. For one thing, it is free. Who has ever heard of that before? Yep. You heard me right. Free. I have paid as much as $140 for a race, so free is for me!
The other unique aspect is that it is a reverse marathon. That means that we all started at different times with the anticipation of finishing close to the same time. The race was limited to 15 runners and you had to ask to be part of it rather than signing up through a website.
We were on a loop course around a neighborhood in Newport Beach, CA. The 2 special things about this marathon were that it qualified me for Marathon Maniacs and was Brady's first 26.2.
The race did not start well. I broke my own rule of eating spicy food the night before and it kept me up all night with an upset stomach. We were also on a friend's pull-out couch, so that didn't help.
We got a little lost getting to the start, but eventually settled into running. Brady quickly found his own pace and I ran a lap with the race director, Joe Taricani, the voice of the Marathon Show and my 2 friends, Christian and Stacey.
I eventually saw this very tall man dressed like a Jester approach. I knew it quickly it was ultra marathoner, Ed Ettinghousen. I asked if I could run with him. He agreed and I am so glad he did! I spent about 15 miles with Ed. I asked him every question I could think of about running and ultra running. He graciously shared his experiences and knowledge with me as we logged the miles. It was a lot of fun watching the reaction of children and adults alike as he passed in that suit. Here is a pic:
We finally finished and had a great time just hanging out with the other runners. It was a very easy going, fun marathon. Thanks Marathon Show! I am a maniac now!
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